Expressions in Color: Selections from the 20th-Century Collection

Highlighting modern American and European works from the museum's permanent collection, this exhibition considers not only the expressive language of color, but particularly how color carries the potential to alter our experiences—perceptually, emotionally, and spiritually. The installation focuses on several stylistic movements, including the German expressionist Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) artists who believed in the spiritual qualities of color, evoking a mystical significance through brilliant hues. Other artists, like the Color Field painters of the 1950s and 1960s, investigated the functions of pure color—how the placement of solid, flat areas of pigment can create both dynamic and subtle movement. Meant as an overview of different techniques and approaches to using color, the exhibition includes works by Karel Appel, Max Beckmann, Hans Hofmann, Gabriele Münter, David Park, Mark Rothko, among others.